Day 91: John Wayne...Patriot, Maniac or POS?

A few weeks ago, A Facebook friend posted a quotation from James Baldwin's 1972 memoir, "No Name in the Street."

...a black man who sees the world the way John Wayne, for example, sees it would not be an eccentric patriot, but a raving maniac.

 I commented that 30% of Americans saw the world that way. As is occasionally the case with Facebook comments (both mine and others), I have been thinking about that statement. To break it down, I wondered how did John Wayne see the world in 1972 and how many people today see the world in that same way.

Demographics:

John Wayne died in 1979. According to 2020 census estimates approximately 40% of the United State population had not yet been born (or were under the age of 5) when Wayne died. 

Hollywood Career:

Wayne appeared in over 170 movies from 1926 through 1976. He appeared on the top ten list of favorite movie stars every year between 1949 and 1973 with one exception – 1958. In 2006, Emanuel Levy wrote. " The movies of John Wayne have grossed collectively more than any star, male or female of his generation; the amount is roughly estimated at $700 million in the United States alone.
Based on annual polls, Variety named him the box-office champion of all time. Indeed, Wayne has been the only movie star with 32 pictures on the Variety compilation of all-time money-grossers."

"NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Feb. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The most popular film actor of the 20th century, John Wayne, is once again in the top five on The Harris Poll's annual list of "America's Favorite Movie Stars," this year landing the fourth spot. More than 38 years after his death, Wayne is the only late actor in the top 10 and has never fallen out in over two decades."

(Note on this poll, John Wayne is listed as the top choice of conservative, Republican, men 70 years and old. He ranked 3rd amongst those 51 to 69 and is not in the top three of any other age group.)

John Wayne on John Wayne:

The best place to start and finish is John Wayne's interview with Playboy Magazine in May/1971.
Here is the transcript.  (It's 12,000 words, about a 40 minute read for Don's Basement completists) The interview made the rounds on Twitter and the media in 2019 when screenwriter Matt Williams posted this Tweet.

Here are what some would say outspoken and others reactionary, racist and homophobic excerpts from the interview.

PLAYBOY: What kind of films do you consider perverted?

WAYNE: Oh, Easy Rider, Midnight Cowboy—that kind of thing. Wouldn't you say that the wonderful love of those two men in Midnight Cowboy, a story about two fags, qualifies? 

 WAYNE: "What kind of a nation is it that fails to understand that freedom of speech and assembly are one thing, and anarchy and treason are quite another, that allows known Communists to serve as teachers to pervert the natural loyalties and ideals of our kids, filling them with fear and doubt and hate and down-grading patriotism and all our heroes of the past?"
PLAYBOY: You blame all this on liberals?

WAYNE: Well, the liberals seem to be quite willing to have Communists teach their kids in school. The Communists realized that they couldn't start a workers' revolution in the United States, since the workers were too affluent and too progressive. So the Commies decided on the next-best thing, and that's to start on the schools, start on the kids. 

PLAYBOY: Angela Davis claims that those who would revoke her teaching credentials on ideological grounds are actually discriminating against her because she's black. Do you think there's any truth in that?

WAYNE: With a lot of blacks, there's quite a bit of resentment along with their dissent, and possibly rightfully so. But we can't all of a sudden get down on our knees and turn everything over to the leadership of the blacks. I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I don't believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people.

PLAYBOY: For years American Indians have played an important—if subordinate—role in your Westerns. Do you feel any empathy with them?

WAYNE: I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them, if that's what you're asking. Our so-called stealing of this country from them was just a matter of survival. There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.

PLAYBOY: What about welfare recipients?

WAYNE: I believe in welfare—a welfare work program. I don't think a fella should be able to sit on his backside and receive welfare. I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living... Why are we allowing ourselves to become a mobocracy instead of a democracy? When you allow unlawful acts to go unpunished, you're moving toward a government of men rather than a government of law; you're moving toward anarchy. 

PLAYBOY: You seem to have a very blunt way of dealing with people. Why? 

WAYNE: I've always followed my father's advice: He told me, first, to always keep my word and, second, to never insult anybody unintentionally. If I insult you, you can be goddamn sure I intend to. And, third, he told me not to go around looking for trouble.

PLAYBOY: Many pessimists insist that our nation has lost its dignity and is headed toward self-destruction. Some, in fact, compare the condition of our society to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire and the last days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Are you that gloomy about the future of America?

WAYNE: Absolutely not. I think that the loud roar of irresponsible liberalism, which in the old days we called radicalism, is being quieted down by a reasoning public. I think the pendulum's swinging back. We're remembering that the past can't be so bad. We built a nation on it. We must also look always to the future. Tomorrow—the time that gives a man or a country just one more chance—is just one of many things that I feel are wonderful in life.

In conclusion...

When I was growing up I was a big John Wayne fan. Loved Hondo, Rio Bravo, The High and Mighty (trying taking a plane ride after that movie). He kind of lost me with the The Green Berets. I honestly don't remember the '71 Playboy interview....fags...white supremacy, selfish Indians. Yeesh. 

There is always the issue of separating an artist from his work. This is a particularly difficult problem with Wayne because so much of his work seems to reflect the world view of ... remembering that the past can't be so bad. We built a nation on it..

As to the point of this exercise, I don't know how many Americans would subscribe to the whole John Wayne package but that core believe resonates with Make America Great Again. 

Here are my thoughts...